Taiwan

Taiwan actively seeks bilateral free trade agreements, though it is hampered in this effort by its status vis-a-vis China. It has FTAs already with Panama (2003), Guatemala (2005), Nicaragua (2006), El Salvador (2007) and Honduras (2007). It is negotiating with Dominican Republic and Paraguay. And it hopes to negotiate further deals with Costa Rica, Israel, Swaziland, Japan, the US of course, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Mexico. Taipei’s emphasis on Central American countries as FTA partners is to gain access to the US market under NAFTA and CAFTA. But now Taiwan is in talks with China for a possible FTA following the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between the two governments in 2010.

Taiwan has been informed that the import ban on US beef products containing ractopamine residue could have repercussions for the nation’s long-standing request to be included in the US visa-waiver program

The Republic of China’s (ROC) representative to the European Union and Belgium, David Lin, says that ROC diplomats in Europe are set to begin pushing for a Free Trade Agreement with the EU. The ROC is the official name of Taiwan’s government.

Taiwan and Singapore will begin formal negotiations on a free trade agreement early next year after completing feasibility studies, representatives of both governments announced in a joint press release Wednesday.

Barely six months ago, Taiwan’s industrialists were jubilant. The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which the island signed with mainland China, was celebrated as a blow against trade arch-rival South Korea.

A second seminar on Taiwan-Indonesia collaboration opened in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta Tuesday to further explore bilateral ties on a wide front ranging from free trade agreements (FTAs) to challenges facing the media and technology sectors.

Taipei will continue to encourage the EU to negotiate with Taiwan on accords to reduce trade barriers and facilitate bilateral relationships, though its plate is full in discussing free-trade agreements (FTA) with several countries, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday.

Political pressure to protect farmers will stall Taiwan’s dreams of signing free trade agreements (FTA) with Southeast Asia, setting back a piece of the island’s growth strategy, a senior official said.

Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang confirmed Tuesday that Taiwan and Japan have started negotiations on a bilateral investment guarantee agreement to step up economic exchanges between the two countries.

The proposed free trade (FTA) -like economic cooperation agreement with Singapore will not be a free lunch, but as long as Taiwan has the mettle to overhaul its economy, the deal could be a sumptuous feast.

The Philippine government will not rule out the possibility of negotiating a free trade package with Taiwan, even though it only officially recognizes China under its "one-China" policy, a senior Philippine trade official said Friday.

Local society in general has hailed the imminent start of talks with Singapore on signing an economic cooperation agreement as a breakthrough for Taiwan in its pursuit of better foreign trade relations after decades of being overshadowed by China.

Taiwan is eyeing Vietnam and Indonesia as potential free trade agreement (FTA) partners after announcing earlier this week that it had agreed with Singapore to explore the feasibility of a free trade deal, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Saturday.

bilaterals.org is a collaborative space to share information and support movements struggling against bilateral trade and investment deals which serve corporations, not people. Multilingual. Global. No one owns it. Open publishing. Get involved.